Minister of Jobs, Economy and Innovation Doug Schweitzer (YourAlberta on YouTube)

By Justin Goulet

Province announces new immigration streams, changes to Temporary Foreign Worker program

Oct 26, 2020 | 11:53 AM

EDMONTON, AB – The Government of Alberta is launching two new immigration pathways to attract investment and create new jobs in the province.

Starting October 26, recent international graduates from universities and colleges in the province can apply to the new International Graduate Entrepreneur Immigration Stream to launch business ventures and startups in Alberta.

Early next year, in January, the province will launch the Foreign Graduate Start-up Visa Stream to attract international graduates from top universities and colleges in the United States to start businesses and move to communities in Alberta.

The government says that together, these two programs will offer tools to grow Alberta’s tech sector and attract new investments that will create new high-paying jobs.

Further details can be found here.

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CHANGES TO TEMPORARY FOREIGN WORKER (TFW) PROGRAM

The provincial government has also announced changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program. The province will be limiting the number and types of jobs available to new TFWs.

The goal is to make more jobs available to unemployed Albertans.

As of November 1, dozens of additional occupational categories will be added to the “refusal to process list”, removing the majority of occupations from the TFW program.

This will reportedly create more than 1,350 available jobs for unemployed Albertans.

“Alberta is using its authority under the Temporary Foreign Worker Annex of the Agreement for Canada-Alberta Cooperation on Immigration and has reached an agreement with the federal government,” stated the province in a release.

“These changes will impact 475 occupations in sectors such as accommodation and food services, retail trade, transportation, construction, and professional, scientific and technical services.”

A small number of specialized occupations experiencing “acute and proven labour shortages” will be exempt. The province says these changes will not impact employers recruiting for select occupations in the agriculture, technology and caregiving sectors that rely on temporary foreign workers to fill any gaps in employment.

The government says it will monitor and adjust the “refusal to process list” quarterly and work with industry experts, businesses and post-secondary institutions, municipalities and organizations as economic conditions improve.

“Together, the new streams and changes to the TFW program balance the need to get unemployed Albertans back to work in available jobs while keeping educated and talented entrepreneurs in Alberta to build job-creating businesses,” the province stated.

This latest announcement is one of many included in Alberta’s Recovery Plan in light of COVID-19.